As
the transfer of Thomas Vermaelen from Arsenal to Barcelona has been announced,
we look at the history of transfers which happened between these two clubs. In
fact, both of these clubs have been engaged in successful business for more
than a decade now. In majority of these transfers, it’s FC Barcelona who
enjoyed greater success in terms of getting star players. But Arsenal got much
more profit in terms of transfer fees from Barcelona than any other club. Lets look at top 5 players who played for both these European Giants.

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Marc OvermarsArsenal FC have always enjoyed Dutch
Players in their ranks. And one of the very finest of those is Overmars. He was
one of the first signings which Arsene Wenger made in the start of his historic
career at the North London side. And this signing will always remain in one of
his very successful businesses. In his first season, he played an integral part
in helping Arsenal to win Barclays Premier League. Overmars scored 12 goals in
that season for the Gunners. He was bought from Ajax for a fee of £5.5 Million.
And when Barcelona came calling for the Winger for an astounding fee of £40
Million, Arsenal meant business. He was sold to Barcelona where he could never
live up to his expectation.

Emmanuel Petit
The French defensive midfielder joined Arsenal in the very season when Overmars
did. He was also the part of double winning campaign in 1997-98 season. He was
a key midfielder along with Patrick Viera. It’s interesting how Petit and Overmars
shared a same fate. Both left for Barcelona in the same year and both turned
out to be flops in Catalan side.

Thierry Henry
Unarguably the best jewel which FC Barcelona got from Arsenal, Henry is one of
all-time greats who appeared for the Arsenal shirt. The French striker enjoyed
a historic campaign with the Gunners. He was one of the top strikers which ever
featured in English Premier League. He scored historic 174 goals for North
London side. After the end of his 8 year career with Arsenal, Henry joined
Barcelona. He won his first Champions League there along with several other
silverwares. However it can be said that unlike of all the other transfer that
has been mentioned here, Arsenal offloaded this player after getting the most
out of him.

When Henry joined Barcelona for a fee of around 24million
pounds, he had already won 2 Premier Leagues, 3 FA Cups and 2 Community Shields
with Arsenal.

Cesc Fabregas
Fabregas is yet another Arsenal Captain who joined Barcelona. He was fan
favourite during his time at Emirates. Cesc arrived from Barcelona’s academy
and his heart always remained there. He won only one title with the Gunners and
when Barcelona made an approach to sign the Spaniard, Fabregas shown no
hesitations whatsoever. He joined Barcelona for £25 Million. However, after
spending 3 seasons at Nou Camp, he is back on English soil and joined Chelsea.

Alex Song:
Song was never a fan favourite during his first few seasons at Emirates. But in
his final season, he was a star turn in the team. He was the star performer for
Arsene Wenger having provided 11 assists in that season. So just when the fans
thought Song will help them to land some silver-ware, he ditched them and left
for Barcelona after joining Spanish Giants for a fee of around £15 Million. Maybe
he wasn’t the most successful player for Barcelona, but he surely made a good
profit for Arsene Wenger.

Conclusion:

Having a depressing decade behind now, Arsenal have suddenly entered into an era of greater economic dominance. Players like Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are choosing gunners as their destination and with Sami Khedira being a likely new recruit for the North London side, it can be said that the reversible cycle has returned as far as the reds are concerned.